I just started to knit a month ago, and have nothing to show for it...other then some needles and yarn. I came here and watched the vidoes....so I can now cast on!!! Am I supposed to have a tail left or do I use it all?

The next thing to do is knit right?!?!? I watch the video and think I understand and wrote it down to follow....but I'm having a hard time holding the yarn in my right hand....and then when I get the yarn on the right needle its all twisted and very tight...my 7 year old nephew can knit, so I'm getting a little frustrated, it really can't be this hard or am I just retarded?!?!?!

No...you aren't retarded! Try watching the continental method of Amy's videos...easy as pie...and relax your hands. Using the continetal method, you will have a tail once you cast on and will use your working yarn to knit.

Once you learn the knit and purl stitches, the others will come easier...practice, practice, practice and the best way to do that is to knit a scarf. Cast on about 12 stitches onto a size 15 needle (to me, easier to learn on a larger needle), then just use the knit stitch to finish the scarf...may take about 2 skeins of yarn to make a nice size scarf...or at least 80 yards. It will get easier with practice. I just began in November and have made about 25 scarves and now working on circular needles...and a totebag at that...so relax!

Make swatches!! You will have a tail unless you use Amy's fav cast on method. I'm pretty sure you can knit part of the tail into your work and then cut it, but I would work on the other parts first.

I practiced all of Amy's cast on methods to see which one I liked. Then I tried knitting onto each cast on method to further develop my preferences of which one was easiest to knit from and also which one looked good. I also tried continental and english knitting styles. I preferred continental.

When I felt confident about casting on and knitting, then I worked on purling. After that, I made swatches using stockinette, garter, ribbing and moss stitch. Then I made a hat.

We've all been there and have started up our own way. No one was "retarded" about it and neither are you. It will come. Try everything and find which ones you like best.

I always have a tail when I cast on. It's one of the costs of doing business, I guess. I read a tip somewhere that if you wrap the yarn around a needle as many times as the number of stitches you have to cast on, you will have a good approximation of the length of yarn you need for the tail end. Maybe so much will not be left over. If some is, weave it in to the "wrong" side. Also, it's much better to have a tail than to have misjudged and not have enough!

I could never get the hang of continental knitting. I hold the working yarn in my right hand and wrap, wrap, wrap for every single stitch. I know it is more "efficient" to knit continental style, but the right hand way gives me consistent tension and a knitting rhythm, so I'm sticking with it.